Whoa!

Actually we bought one and our neighbors also brought one which they made

So we have two to try

So here we go — first time!

[Life in Japan Theme Song]

New Years in Japan is a big deal, perhaps their most important holiday of all.

The Reutter kids are sure excited too, because it means they will soon be enjoying winter break.

Bye!

The last day of school is always an exciting time, oh boy!

Leading up to New Years, the Japanese clean their houses in order to have a special time with family and friends.

And this year we are incorporating even more Japanese traditions into our New Years' celebrations,

and it all starts with a very important visit.

So Christmas is done, it was amazing!

Just our best Christmas ever at Paz!

And now we're getting ready for a super duper special visit,

Something that hasn't happened in over three years!

What's happening Sarah?!

Vovó (Grandma) and Vovô (Grandpa) are going to come!

Wow girlfriend! Look at this house here, huh?

I know, it looks clean, doesn't it?

It goes! It looks all ready for your parents to come!

Ruth's parents are visiting us from Brazil, so we are going to the airport to pick them up.

We have cleared our schedule as much as possible in order to enjoy this special time with them,

and it turns out that this is exactly what the Japanese do this time of year.

Ok, we have Vovô (Grandpa) and Vovó (Grandma) with us!

Yes! Yea!

They just did the long long flight that we did earlier this year.

With most people heading to their hometowns to be with family, the traffic gets super crazy near the end of the year.

Everyone seems to be anxious to make it to their holiday destinations.

A return trip from the airport that usually takes around 50 minutes took us an hour and half to do.

That's holiday traffic for you,

but it's OK, because to us this is the beginning of our New Years' break!

The kids wasted no time welcoming Vovó and Vovô to the house,

immediately asking to play a game under our Japanese Kotatsu table.

Aw, Rumikub with Vovó and Vovô!

The holidays were officially underway.

Before trying our traditional Japanese New Years' Food, we were treated to a visit to a nearby flower park.

The good thing going with Vovô is?

He pays!

The very end of the year may not be the best time to visit a flower park,

but we still had a lot of fun seeing the shows,

seeing the otters

Otters!

What did you get, Sarah?

Otter

An otter?

Aww, look at that otter!

not to mention the tropical fish

Wow!

and of course, exploring the gardens.

The best part of Japanese New Years' is the time spent together with family and friends.

Look at the crew coming!

But now we're about to try a true Japanese New Year's tradition, eating the New Year's meal called Osechi.

This food was originally prepared before New Years so that no cooking was required the first couple of days of the New Year.

It was originally simple vegetables and soy sauce, but developed into much more elaborate offerings.

It has a tradition all its own and we're excited to give it a try.

And this one, look! It comes with this — oh!

Oh, I think this is the little cloth that you're supposed to... that you can tie it up in.

It's Pokemon.

Yea!

Look!

Here's the case.

Oh! It actually comes with Pokemon Chopsticks.

Jetlag hit Vovô pretty hard, but Vovó was ready to try it with us!

It's in a Pokemon ball!

Whoa! Look at this!

How cool!

Wha!!!

Oh, it's doubled!

Oh my goodness, that is wild!

I'm not eating this!

Interesting... Look at how cute.

Do you have any idea what some of these are, Ruth?

That looks like egg, Um hum.

Matcha cake...

Shrimp... That looks like squid in there.

And look at that fish!

Look at those fish!

This looks like that "Temaki" something-or-other...

Is it yummy?

Made with egg.

Mochi balls, those look good.

Wait- oh yes! There's a carrot here, yes I can eat!

Is it a carrot? Uh huh.

Oh, look at the inside of this!

It is? Is it good? Uh huh.

These are in our misoshiro (soup) at school.

Oh, you have those in your misoshiro soup at school?

Yep. And that.

And that too? Um, it's good.

We started diving in, even though we had no idea what we were doing!

Umm, this is very good.

Ahh, this looks like Biwa!

What is Biwa?

Or is it Tomato?

It's like a mini-mini orange.

Oh my!

What do you keep eating there that you like so much?

You don't know?

But it sure is good.

New Years, for in Japan, is kind of like what Thanksgiving is in the States,

Where people all go back to their hometowns and they have the traditional foods that they eat.

This is sweet-potato-something.

Sweet potato? Oh! It's delicious.

Here in Japan, these are the traditional foods.

So if we're messing it up, or we're calling it by the wrong name,

Or we're eating it wrong, please be nice to us.

Put it in the comments, what we were supposed to do, and we can learn from it.

It's like a hamburger.

Oh!

I want some!

Mmm!

Oh, is it good? Yea!

Does the Sara-bara like it?

I do.

You do too?

Look, it's a Pikachu.

Pikachu!

Right as you put it in your mouth the flavor goes byah!!

Very good.

Umm, that's a sausage... with cheese in the middle.

Did everyone have a favorite at all?

This...

I'm going to eat another one.

You're going to eat another one! You've had a bunch of these so far.

Carrot!

Your favorite was the carrot?

Umm, I really like this.

Whatever this is.

Matcha cake. It's delicious.

I love this root.

The root. Um.

I like the hamburgers.

Did you have a favorite?

Um, not yet.

You haven't had it yet, you don't know.

I'm changing my mind, this is my favorite.

She had some of the matcha cake.

Here we go! Oh my!

Vovó's going to have some shrimp!

You're going to have to peel it, mom.

You have to eat it with your hands, right?

I mean, I don't know how to do this. Yea sure.

Oh, I have no idea either.

So if it's OK, I'm going to try it the way I would do it.

[Gasps]

It squirted me!

Mama chan is squirtin!

It peed!

Delicious! I'm going away!

Um, I love it!

Well, we could go and buy you some...I mean there's one more shrimp, but...

That is good shrimp.

OK Daddy, you need to try one.

Well there's no more.

I am not a shrimp person.

Mmm, I love shrimp.

Yea, Momma-chan loves shrimp, so does Vovó-chan

I want Daddy to try the fish with the eyeballs in it.

You do, huh?

We eat those at school! Is that what you want me to try, huh?

You eat that at school?!

Well, they give them the tiny version.

I'll try one.

Watch, Vovó is going to try one.

Alright!

It's curry. It's not curry.

Mmm. It's a fish with eyeballs.

It's good.

Should Mommy eat one?

Is it a sardine?

It's probably like a... It's like a little sardine, yea.

Tough little thing. Tough, but it's good, not bad.

It's a bit...

What's this right here? Where's the cake?!

The cake's all gone, honey, I'm making cheesecake.

What is that?

a bean.

It looks like a bean.

It's a bean! Try it Becca!

A sweet bean. I want to try it!

I want to try one.

Cold sweet beans.

It's the beans that they make the filling for their mochi and stuff.

Is this like a potato? Pikachu!

Yeah, that's very good.

I think it's like a sweet potato. Very good.

I like these. These are very good.

Vovó thinks that's an eyeball.

It looks like an eyeball.

Should I try it?

It's mochi-something I think.

Vovó is going to try an eyeball.

Umm. Um!

Delicious.

OK, so what am I going to try here?

Daddy was busy filming, so now it's my turn to finally try some of these things.

So you can try—we didn't try that yet.

Oh, we didn't try this yet?!

That looks like seafood. It looks like crab.

Here we go...

It's good.

Is it sweet?

(No)

Is it fishy? (No)

Does it taste like anything?

It's crab!

But it's good. There's one more here.

I'll try it.

Oh Vovó tries everything.

I always try anything.

And it "comes to her heart."

Very good.

I think it has a piece of cheese in the middle.

The bean! It's a black bean.

Umm, that's good!

That's good.

What else should I try?

Umm....

That sweet potato... The bubbles, the bubbles!

The sweet potato is good and that pork is good.

And the bubbles!

So some sweet potatoes.

Umm, that's good.

It's all cold.

It comes cold and then you put it in your fridge until you're ready to eat it.

Look at this.

There's such intricate details in a lot of this stuff right here.

I think we, the adults, had the most amount of fun just trying the various foods and trying to guess what we were eating.

Oh, and then eat the bubbles.

Is that the caviar?

Should I try some?

I don't like those. My friend loves those.

I'll admit, eating cold food is not my idea of big holiday meal,

but I was surprised by the number of tasty things I tried.

Is it radish?

Maybe radish and carrots or something

That's decent.

I kind of like this.

You're going to eat more? Um hum.

Oh, I'm going to hear the chewing.

Chewing is satisfying to them.

So I'm a bit surprised because I know that a lot of this food is an acquired taste

It's traditional food that people have and they love to have it this time of year

I didn't know what to expect — if I'd actually like any of it or not

But a lot of these things are very good.

Yea, and most people, I think, make their own

Like our neighbor, but we bought it, and

Maybe because we bought a Pokemon one, but it was kind of expensive.

But we thought, well let's try it. Let's get a cute something.